Bank of Montreal Can Cuts Stock Holdings in Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG)

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its holdings in shares of Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:FANG) by 43.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 349,864 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock after selling 269,218 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Diamondback Energy were worth $59,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Diamondback Energy by 178.1% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 30,532 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $6,112,000 after acquiring an additional 19,552 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 18.5% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 42,678 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $7,358,000 after buying an additional 6,672 shares during the period. Cullen Investment Group LTD. raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 33.5% in the third quarter. Cullen Investment Group LTD. now owns 11,978 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 3,008 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Diamondback Energy by 2,768.9% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,332 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock valued at $883,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in shares of Diamondback Energy in the third quarter valued at $4,464,000. 90.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Lyndal Greth sold 13,212,830 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.11, for a total value of $2,313,698,661.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,037,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $181,732,485.09. This trade represents a 92.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Lawrence Plaumann sold 1,150 shares of Diamondback Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.00, for a total value of $208,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,872. This represents a 19.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on FANG shares. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Diamondback Energy from $235.00 to $209.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Diamondback Energy from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, September 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “sector outperform” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Diamondback Energy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $216.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.00.

Diamondback Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:FANG opened at $176.19 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.18. The stock has a market cap of $51.45 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.89. Diamondback Energy, Inc. has a 52 week low of $145.70 and a 52 week high of $214.50.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The oil and natural gas company reported $3.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by ($1.24). The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.43 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 33.64% and a return on equity of 13.68%. Diamondback Energy’s revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Diamondback Energy, Inc. will post 16.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Diamondback Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 21st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Diamondback Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.61%.

Diamondback Energy Company Profile

Diamondback Energy, Inc, an independent oil and natural gas company, acquires, develops, explores, and exploits unconventional, onshore oil and natural gas reserves in the Permian Basin in West Texas. It focuses on the development of the Spraberry and Wolfcamp formations of the Midland basin; and the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring formations of the Delaware basin, which are part of the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico.